


Methods for Keeping Bacteria At Bay

by therudestflower



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: A tag I never expected to use, Dental Hygiene, Gen, Obsessive thoughts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-04
Updated: 2013-03-04
Packaged: 2017-12-04 06:39:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/707691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/therudestflower/pseuds/therudestflower
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isaac can handle living in the train depot, really he can. The only problem is that he can't brush his teeth properly without running water. </p><p>AKA: Why Isaac was holding a plastic flosser when he came into the animal clinic.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Methods for Keeping Bacteria At Bay

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cheylock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheylock/gifts).



It’s not that bad, living in the train depot. No one but pack steps foot inside, and it’s better to live with his alpha than a family of strangers. Isaac quickly claimed a half decayed office as his—entirely his.  Derek doesn’t come in and even Erica and Boyd know to stay away. He keeps his books in the filing cabinet that was left behind, and sleeps on mattress wedged under the steel desk. It’s safe.  
  
The only bad part is that there’s no goddamn water.  
  
The depot has three bathrooms, seventeen sinks, twenty nine toilets and none of them work. Isaac checked them all on the first full moon. He checks them every three days, even though Derek always says they aren’t going to miraculously get water. “It’s a fluke we even have power.” He still checks, a second fluke isn’t too much to ask for. How many American can’t even brush their goddamn teeth, even if they do live on condemned government property?  
  
The first three weeks are the worst. Isaac’s still a fugitive and can’t so much as walk into a convenience store. If there wasn’t a port-a-potty at the construction site a mile away, Isaac would have turned himself six hours after escaping. Derek showers at some gym and Isaac pours jugs of water over his head until Jackson finally goes back to his roots and tells the police that all was well at the Lahey house.  
  
After that Isaac uses the locker room showers, and no one except Stiles notices the shampoo and shaving cream stashed in his lacrosse locker. But there’s still chains in Stiles’ locker, so he has no room to comment.  
  
But fugitive or not, there’s one inescapable problem about living in the train depot: no matter how hard he tries, Isaac can’t keep his teeth clean. Isaac’s never bought that brushing twice a day is enough. Bacteria never stops growing and eating only makes things worse. At home he brushed his teeth at least four times a day, but now he brushes them about ten times—and it still isn’t enough. Bacteria coats his teeth and his gums are getting weaker. If he sits still for too long, all Isaac can picture is gingivitis covering his teeth like moss.  
  
Pouring bottled water on a toothbrush is not the same as using a sink, no matter what Derek says. It leaves Isaac’s teeth gritty, and the bacteria grows back faster—he can feel it. When he brings it up one night in the train car, Derek rolls his eyes.  
  
“You can walk away from a gunshot wound--are you seriously worried about a little tooth decay?”  
  
“But--”  
  
“Do you have toothpaste?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Clean water?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“Then it’s the exact same thing. Go to bed.”  
  
But it’s not.  
  
So Isaac invests. He withdraws twenty dollars from his savings account and buys an electric toothbrush, brand name toothpaste, mouthwash and some plastic forks that are supposed to make it easier to floss your teeth. Even knowing his teeth are being destroyed, Isaac hadn’t been able to make himself floss. He didn’t want to accidentally touch the bacteria.  
  
It takes a while to integrate the mouthwash and floss perfectly. Isaac’s gums bleed for a few days, but of course they always heal in less than a minute. And it’s just a sign of how much he needs to be flossing. He has a new routine: mouthwash, floss, brush, mouthwash.  
  
After things get better. Unlike brushing, Isaac can floss his teeth anywhere. He keeps a baggie of flossers in his back pocket and uses them whenever he feels the bacteria creeping up. Derek draws the line when he tries to floss during training, but doesn’t comment when Isaac goes through three flossers on the drive to the vet.  
  
“You gonna stop checking the sinks now?” he asks.  
  
“Sure,” Isaac lies.  
  
It’s still not the same, but the bacteria slows down.

**Author's Note:**

> When I rewatched "Raving" I noticed that Isaac is holding one of those plastic flossers when he and Derek arrive at the clinic, and the need to rationalize it has plagued me ever since.


End file.
